A project to improve safety and efficiency for road users on the stretch of State Highway 16 between Brigham Creek and Waimauku in Auckland.
Between 2010 and July 2019 three people were killed, and 29 people were seriously injured whilst travelling along State Highway 16 within the project area. Over a third of these crashes were caused by drivers losing control and running off the road or crossing the centreline and hitting an oncoming vehicle. This makes it one of the highest-risk rural roads in the country.
This road is an important link for the local community, as well as providing resilience within the wider Upper North Island state highway network. Over 36,000 vehicles a day use the route between Brigham Creek and Kumeū, and over 15,000 vehicles are travelling between Huapai and Waimauku each day. Residential and business growth has increased and will continue to do so as the North West develops. This increases vehicle numbers and puts pressure on our network.
The project has been split into two stages. Stage one runs from Huapai to Waimauku and Stage two is between the Brigham Creek roundabout and Kumeū. We started on the section between Huapai and Waimauku where there are slightly less complexities and where half of the crashes were head-on. Work will start on this section while we continue to confirm aspects of the design for Stage two.
To make SH16 safer, we’re looking at making a number of improvements:
Stage one (Huapai to Waimauku):
Stage two (Brigham Creek to Kumeū):
The focus of this project is to improve safety in the area which will improve the wider transport network’s efficiency. Auckland Council, Auckland Transport and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency are investigating plans for the longer-term to address future growth, including in Auckland’s North West.
Stage one (Huapai to Waimauku):
Design for Stage one is now complete, and we have begun preparing for initial works. We are continuing to work with landowners to buy the land we need to construct the project.
Enabling works on Berry’s Bridge have now been completed. The works were required to relocate a gas main and were initially delayed due to COVID 19.
In September 2020 we received approvals from Auckland Council for our resource consent and our notice of requirement to deliver Stage one. At the same time, we started the process to get a construction partner on board to deliver the works. However, in late October we received an appeal on the notice of requirement to the Environment Court.
This means that our designation is unable to be confirmed within the Auckland Unitary Plan at this time, and we need to place the project on hold until there is a resolution on the appeal. An Environment Court hearing was held in August 2021 and we anticipate a decision on this soon. When the appeal process is complete, we will know if we can restart procurement for a construction partner and let stakeholders and the community know what our timeframe is for delivering Stage one of the project.
We are disappointed to not be able to progress Stage one at this time, however, we’ve been continuing the design for Stage two (Brigham Creek to Kumeū).
Stage two (Brigham Creek to Kumeū):
We’ve completed preliminary design for Stage two and have undertaken a number of site investigations along the State Highway and on private properties. Our team is now progressing the detailed design and we aim to provide more information for landowners and the wider community on this in early 2022.
Updated timeframes are shown below.
*Timeline is indicative only and subject to change.
